Pilze in Sahnesosse

Name: Pilze in Sahnesosse
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Swiss
Ingredients: 20g dried porcini, chanterelles or morels; 30g butter; ½ brown onion, finely chopped; 150g button mushrooms, finely sliced; 1 teaspoon plain flour; ½ cup dry white wine; ¼ cup single cream; ½ lemon; 1 tablespoon finely sliced parsley leaves

Classic Swiss geschnetzeltes often includes mushrooms with the veal. These pilze in sahnesosse (mushrooms in cream sauce) are like a vegetarian geschnetzeltes, with the mushrooms as the star attraction. I use wild slippery jacks or pine mushrooms when they’re available, otherwise adding dried porcini, chanterelles or morels to cultivated mushrooms works well too. Swiss cuisine doesn’t offer a great range of vegetarian dishes, but one that appears on most menus is rösti with a creamy mushroom sauce just like this; see video below for a step-by-step guide to making rösti. For a deliciously different wine match, try a glass of Renzaglia Wines Rural Method di Renzo chardonnay; this lightly sparkling pale pink wine spent 18 months on lees making it both rich enough to marry with the cream sauce, and fresh enough to clean up the palate afterwards.

Serves 2

Ingredients

20g dried porcini, chanterelles or morels
30g butter
½ brown onion, finely chopped
150g button mushrooms, finely sliced
1 teaspoon plain flour
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup single cream
½ lemon
Salt flakes and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon finely sliced parsley leaves
Rösti (see video below), spätzli, or noodles, for serving

Method

Soak porcini in 1 cup warm water for at least 30 minutes, turning them occasionally.
Meanwhile, melt half the butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
Add onion and a good pinch of salt, stir to combine well, cover and cook for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender and just starting to colour.
Add remaining butter and button mushrooms, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until well softened.
Meanwhile, drain porcini, squeezing them over the bowl to remove excess moisture. Chop porcini roughly and set aside; set soaking liquid aside too.
Add flour to the pan and stir for 2 minutes.
Add wine and mushroom soaking liquid (leaving any sediment behind), increase heat to high, stir well to remove any bits stuck to the bottom or sides of the pan; stir until it returns to the boil.
Add porcini and continue boiling for 3–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced by about half.
Reduce heat to low, grate in a little lemon zest, add cream, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Taste and add salt if needed.
Return to the boil, stirring until it’s all just heated through.
Stir in parsley.
Serve with rösti, spätzli or noodles.